本書以多巴哥島小鎮為舞台，描寫少年在日常與貧困中成長，外來家庭的出現帶來短暫的光亮，也掀開階級、金錢與責任的現實界線。Oonya Kempadoo以節制而詩性的文字，寫出欲望如何遮蔽差異，又如何讓不平等無所遁形。Cliff and Ossi have grown up in Plymouth on the island of Tobago, their lives turning on the axis of small-town life. One day they watch the arrival of a couple and their child at a luxurious house overlooking the ocean. The couple invites Cliff into their home and lives, and in that cool “flim-style” house, the harsh, brittle life of urban Plymouth is kept briefly at bay, desires obscuring differences in class and race. But then things begin to go wrong—money vanishes, the couple’s car disappears—and those differences are brought suddenly to light, raising unsettling questions about relationships, wealth, and responsibility.“Oonya Kempadoo’s Tide Running is effective, beautiful, and haunting . . . and pulses with a distinctive Caribbean rhythm.” —Glenville Lovell, Washington Post“With a finely tuned ear for the cadences of the Caribbean . . .. Kempadoo succeeds in turning an unset
